1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention is directed to seats for a vehicle. More specifically, it is directed to seats supported from a central pillar extending from the floor to the roof of a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
For many years, seats in a vehicle, or more specifically in a motor vehicle, have been mounted on the floor of the vehicle. Such seats are generally mounted on tracks to be adjustable. A seat frame is movable along the tracks to allow for different sizes of occupants. The seat frame is built up with various levels of springing, cushioning and then covering. Coil and other types of springs have been used to provide springing, while various types of foam are used to provide the cushioning feature. Many types of woven fabrics, as well as leather and vinyl have been used for covering the seats.
Despite whatever types of materials have been used for the springing, cushioning or covering of the vehicle seat, the method of mounting the seat on the vehicle floor has been the predominant method of mounting seats in a vehicle. It is most common to mount each front seat so that it is adjustable along two tracks mounted on the vehicle floor, at the outer edges of the seat. This allows a passenger behind the seat to put his feet under the center portion (between the tracks) of the seat ahead of him. However, there is rarely a significant amount of room for such a passenger's feet. Another approach has been to mount the seat on the vehicle floor, so that the tracks and adjustment mechanism is in the center part of the seat, rather than at the outer edges. This enables the passenger behind the seat to put his feet under the seat, but at the outer edges rather than at the center portion. Still this does not allow substantial room for the passenger's feet.